


The Agent, Mavera

by MinaValkyrie



Series: Dragon Age Inquisition: Cyberpunk AU [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Mild Language, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-02
Updated: 2015-05-02
Packaged: 2018-03-26 19:18:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3861643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MinaValkyrie/pseuds/MinaValkyrie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mavera, an Agent of Clan Lavellan, finds herself confused in an interrogation room with an angry Seeker before heading for the Breach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Agent, Mavera

She tries to open her eyes, but it’s no good yet. It registers that she is slumped over, her cheek laying on a cold hard surface, and her hands are bound. The fog in her head refuses to budge, the mission – “ _What had happened to the mission?_ ” She finally wills her eyes open realizing her head is against a large white table, and she sits up with a groan looking over the rest of the room slowly. Her muscles scream against her every action, but she can’t recall what the hell happened. The room is lit with fluorescent lights and the realization of her predicament washes over her. The table, the hard chair in which she’s sitting, a single door to her left, and a large two way glass mirror on the other side of the table. Her brows furrow, has she been captured by an enemy? There’s nothing descript in the room to determine who her captors are and she just sits silently waiting, staring dangerously at the glass.

The door finally opens some time later and a woman enters, her facial features are chiseled, and pointed by the scar on her chin. Mavera’s eyes follow her movements, but she does not move. The woman wears armor with an emblazoned eye on it, not a Templar apparently but she’s not familiar with the symbol. She waits as the woman stands directly across from her, choosing not to sit but to take a wide stance leaning on her arms on the table, leveling her eyes at Mavera. Her expression is severe, but this display of supposed power will not drive Mavera to move or change her blank expression.

“I assume you know why you’re here.” The woman begins, her accent is Nevarran and Mavera recognizes it immediately. Mavera doesn’t move and simply studies the woman and her facial expressions.

“Well, at any rate you will tell me in great detail what hand you had in the massacre at the Divine’s Conclave.” The woman’s expression did not change, but Mavera had no idea what she meant. She had been sent to the conclave undercover and to her recollection, although foggy at the moment, no massacre had happened. Mavera did not move, but the woman did, with a grunt she crossed to the other side of the table and grabbed Mavera’s arm holding her hands up. Her left hand was glowing strangely but she was no Technomancer, and the magic or code there was certainly not hers.

“Explain this!” The woman demanded, her eyes afire but Mavera did not change her blank expression, only returning her gaze. She scoffed and threw Mavera’s hand down leaning in to grab Mavera by the collar instead, her face now only inches from Mavera’s.

“You will tell me what you know. You’re the only one alive you…”

A knock from the other side of the glass cut her off, she sat Mavera back down forcibly and retreated to the other side of the table, choosing instead to lean against the glass her expression now enraged. Mavera still didn’t know what to make of the situation, and her defiance would apparently be met with violence. She reasoned if she was the only one alive after a massacre, they would assume that it was her doing. She wished the woman would have revealed more about the situation but it appeared they would be at an impasse until Mavera opened her mouth.

“Mavera, Clan Lavellan, Agent Number 52876.” She spoke evenly, ensuring no discernable tone entered her voice, and she never lost eye contact with the other woman.

The woman raised a brow as she regarded her, “A spy then?” Mavera studied her, but did not open her mouth. The woman made a disapproving noise as she folded her arms and her brows furrowed in frustration. “I am Seeker Pentaghast, spy.” The Seeker stated, her tone dark. Mavera had heard of the Seekers, supposedly they were directly controlled by the Divine – her own personal military force, it now made sense why this woman was questioning her.

“Have you no words? No explanation for what you’ve done? No confession about murdering the Divine or why your people sent you to do it?” The Seeker continued, her tone even with a tinge of barely controlled anger. Mavera could not believe that the Divine was dead, that was not part of her mission, and she had strict orders to prevent such a thing from happening. Her mind raced with the possibilities of spies amongst the event staff since she, herself, had infiltrated their ranks so easily.

Mavera stated again, “Mavera, Clan Lavellan, Agent Number 52876.” She would not jeopardize her mission without express consent from her superiors regardless of the consequences.

The door opened, and both women turn to see another woman enter, her armor held no insignias, but the style of it and her hooded appearance lent credibility to the fact that she was likely an assassin. At least things were getting interesting, and Mavera had a hard time containing a smile at the change. The woman held a digital notepad and approached Mavera directly, laying the notepad on the table and bending down to unlock the cuffs on Mavera’s hands. Mavera studied the woman’s soft features as she did so, her red chin-length hair and light smile did little to disguise the ease and grace with which she moved – with precision and purpose, she was definitely an assassin.

“Your Keeper, Deshanna Istimaethoriel, wishes to have a word with you, Agent Mavera.” The hooded woman spoke with such a honey-sweet voice but a cold tone. She handed the notepad to Mavera and walked back to the Seeker to speak with her in low voices. Mavera stared at the notepad, and saw that her Keeper indeed had been contacted via video conference and was patiently waiting for her to speak. A creature of habit, Mavera opened the command prompt on the pad, quickly typing in the familiar command lines to ensure the feed was authentic and secure. As she closes the prompt, she politely nods to The Keeper to begin. The Keeper and Mavera switched their dialect immediately to Ancient Elven so the others could not listen in.

“I am glad to see you are safe, agent.” The Keeper began, “Security code Thedas Dragon Two Nubulis.”

“Thank you for verifying Keeper. I am unaware of what happened at the Conclave meeting, my memory after the arrival of all concerned parties is missing save for some fragments of running from something and a woman assisting me.” Mavera stated, as she studied the Keeper’s expressions and silently admired the notepad technology the Seekers apparently possessed, noting that their funding must be impressive.

“I see. I have spoken at length with Sister Leliana to ensure your safety while you are there. She has apprised me of the situation, although most of the evidence of the events can be seen from anywhere in Thedas, Lethallan.”

“What do you mean? The Seeker here has offered little as to what happened.” Mavera asked, her tone cautious as she was not liking where this was headed.

“There is a hole in the sky. It was centered over the massive explosion that took place at the Conclave. All who attended perished, except for you.” The Keeper said bluntly before continuing, “Given the nature of the situation and our involvement – as well as yours – your mission shall change. You will now be assisting the Sister and the Seeker, who are the Left and Right hands of the late Divine respectively, in their quest to find out what has transpired.”

“I – what? I’m not a spy or a…”

“It doesn’t matter. This is now your mission, if there are snags with your treatment you will let me know directly. All information about your former mission and any knowledge you have related the incident shall be considered unclassified and your skills are at the disposal of the Hands of the Divine. I have also given them access to our other intel, it behooves us in this situation to cooperate so that suspicion is not directed at us, or worse, all elves.” The Keeper’s tone is one of stern fact, and there would be no disobeying a direct order such as this one.

“I understand.” Mavera replies flatly, working with Chantry sisters or whatever they were doesn’t seem right to her, but she can’t deny that her presence would throw suspicion on elves as being culprits of the massacre or evoking the idea that they were the perpetrator’s sympathizers.

“Good, your usual gear is being sent to Haven, where their base of operations is to be located.” The Keeper smiled then, and offered a softer tone, “Be safe Mavera, you’re one of our best agents.”

“I shall Keeper. Lath sulevin lath araval ena.”

“Lath sulevin lath araval ena, Lathallan.” The Keeper replied with the clan’s maxim, and the screen went blank. Mavera sat the notepad down on the table and stood, eyeing the other women – Hands of the Divine the Keeper had said. She needed to be cordial as she would be in their continued company, and as she studied their faces it was apparent that neither of them spoke elven and had not followed their conversation. She surmised it would be recorded and played back later so they could decipher it, but no information had truly passed in the words they had used, but in the body language that was conveyed. The mission had indeed changed immensely and she was now the elven envoy of whatever civilities she could manage. “ _What a terrible choice in ambassadors,”_ she thinks as she puts on a polite smile for the women and bows deeply.

“I am here to assist in any way possible.” She states, before standing again and meeting their eyes, as well as the bewildered expression of the Seeker. “I regret to inform you, as I did my Keeper, that I do not recall much after the invested parties arrived at the Conclave. I do remember that I had to run from something and that a woman had reached out to me to assist me in my escape but…”

“A woman?” The Sister’s voice cut her off as she questioned the statement with a raised brow. Mavera thought it curious she was interested in such a small piece of information and hoped the reason would be apparent later.

“Yes, a woman. I don’t recall anything else before awaking here. And, as I’m sure you’ve been briefed upon, I am no true spy nor am I a Technomancer or modified in any way for the use of Fade codes. My mission here was simply to watch the events unfold and intervene by force if anything got ugly, my skillset is that of a soldier not a spy despite the fact that I was undercover for this particular mission.” Mavera hoped her offering of over-information was well met as she waited for a response.

“So you do not recall who killed the Divine?” The Seeker asked.

“No, but since she is dead I have indeed failed my original mission.” Mavera replied evenly, it was obvious that both of these women would be upset by this, but it had to be said.

“I see. Do you recall any-” The Sister was interrupted by the ringing of her communicator. Mavera watched as she said little to the person on the other end, and only eyed Mavera. The Seeker also waited, observing the Sister as she took the call. The Sister turns sharply to the Seeker and said distinctly, “We must move,” before she exited the room.

The Seeker’s gaze followed the Sister out before settling again on Mavera. “Come, there is something you must see.” She said, her tone dark again. Mavera waited until the Seeker exited the room before following her down a series of corridors that led to the main hall of a Chantry. Mavera took note that each name slot on the doors they passed were empty save the Seeker and the Sister’s. She also didn’t expect that such a corridor existed in a Chantry, but this had obviously been revamped to be some sort of a base of operations, likely remodeled before the Conclave took place. The Seeker continued through the large hall and walked outside, Mavera close behind her.

“That.” The Seeker stated, pointing at the sky and leveling her eyes at Mavera. Mavera couldn’t help but gawk at what the Seeker was pointing at. The sky looked like it had been ripped apart just over the mountains to their left. There was actually a hole in the sky, and worse there were green fireballs shooting out of the hole at random. This must be what the Keeper meant – all of Thedas can see this monstrosity. The sickening green hole pulsed, and Mavera’s hand responds in kind with a lightning shot of pain through her arm. The pain is unexpected and she falters to her knees, careful not to crash onto the pavement. The Seeker stands over her, watching her for a moment before offering more information.

“The mark on your hand is connected to the Breach in the sky, without our expert doctors and alchemists it would have killed you by now.” Her voice is low, almost threatening. The pain subsides in Mavera’s hand and she shoots a look to the Seeker, a smirk already settling on her lips.

“Well then, this just got interesting. When do we make for the summit?” She let her excitement fill her words, and she got up eyeing the Seeker. She was eager, itching to head out and put an end to this hole and right the failure of her mission. The Seeker took a step back, gazing at her incredulously.

“When do we…you mean,” The Seeker started unsure of her words, stammering over them before regaining her countenance. “We need to head out immediately, I assume that you’re in good enough shape to fight our way there?”

“I am.”

“Good. I will inform Leliana and we can leave now.” The Seeker grabbed the communicator from her hip and quickly typed out a message before returning it to its holster. “Let’s go…Agent.” Mavera raised a brow at that, so it would be formal conversation and she was happy to let the Seeker set the tone.

“I would like to have some sort of armaments before heading up there, Seeker.” Mavera stated the obvious, she was still clothed as event staff and it was obvious that she had been stripped of her weapons prior to ending up in that room. The Seeker responds only with a disgruntled noise before pushing past Mavera and heading back into the Chantry building. Mavera follows at her heels as she turns to head down a different corridor and uses a key code, that she of course obscures Mavera from seeing, on a door at the end of the hall.

“Your things are in locker 27.”

Mavera makes her way into the room, lined with lockers and various storage areas for both evidence, weapons, and armor. She goes directly to locker 27 and opens it to reveal only her handgun and small dagger. “You’ve got to be kidding me…” She announces aloud with a sound of disbelief and a scowl.

“Not to your satisfaction?” The Seeker inquires darkly, obviously impatient to leave. Mavera shoots the Seeker an unimpressed look as she grabs the items from the locker.

“Hardly…my shoulder holster, retractable shield, and any decent armor I had aren’t in here.”

“I see.”

“So I guess I’ll have to borrow some until my own items arrive if you expect me to fight anything.”

“No.” The Seeker’s eyes met Mavera’s defiantly.

“If you want me to fight for you, I’ll need weapons and armor. You’re going to have to trust me.” Mavera countered immediately, she could feel the heat on the back of her neck. The Seeker wasn’t the only one impatient to drop the civil act.

The Seeker turned from her and walking back to the front of the room, speaking dismissively over her shoulder, “Fine, take what you need from storage unit A7 in the back. Do not take long, we need to have already left.” Mavera grumbles in anger as she turns on her heel and heads to find unit A7. She eventually located it at the very back of the room, which was larger than she had originally estimated. She practically rips the door off the unit getting it open, eager to get to its contents and leave. The smell of must and Creators knows what hit her senses immediately. “ _What the hell?”_ Mavera is not in the least bit impressed and fumbles for a light switch on the wall of the unit. She finds it, and the fluorescent lighting above flickers revealing a sickeningly yellow light over the contents of the unit.

“This stuff looks ancient…” She says to herself, her nose still crinkling from the offensive smells. She looks around the room for what she needs, and is actually rather impressed with the craftsmanship of some of the items in the room. She takes some light armor, looking to have belonged to an assassin or some such person from the back of the unit and grabs a heavy retractable shield, a shoulder harness, a sword belt with a modest broadsword, a pre-packed utility belt, a revolver, and a half full bullet belt. She walks quickly out of the unit, slamming the door behind her hoping that the Seeker would hear her frustration.

She sits the items on the floor of the room and shakes out the light armor she had retrieved, able to see it better in the lights out here, and hoping to get any dust and that smell off of it. It’s slim, form fitting, completely black in color with built in armored pad pieces sewn in, likely light Kevlar. She turns it over in her hands, finally finding the front zipper to get it on, she smiles since she’s sure this will be comfortable but distasteful to the Seeker. Mavera strips out of her current outfit leaving just her smalls, breast-band, and camisole and slips into the light armor. It fits her lean build better than she anticipated as she pulls the zipper up just far enough to obscure the camisole. She smirks, hoping the Seeker hates it and imagining her making a face. She puts her boots back on, luckily they had gone well with the event staff outfit so she hadn’t needed to get rid of the things when she went undercover. She fitted the shoulder holster on, putting her M9 in one open slot, the revolver in another, and the small dagger closer to her waist attaching to the straps. The utility belt, sword belt, and bullet belt came next, all fitting differently around her waist, hitting in varying places – all needed the belts tightened to their smallest fitting to stay on at all. She grunted in disgust at this, cursing under her breath trying to get them all to fit and stay on. The retractable shield was heavier than she was used to as she affixed it to her left forearm, testing its speed and the weight of it when it was out in its oversized glory.

“At least it’s a decent size for the relative weight.” She grumbles aloud.

“I hope the items are to your liking Agent.” The voice was almost a sneer and Mavera looked up to meet the Seeker’s eyes as she retracted the shield, revealing the rest of her outfit.

“Some things are a little big or heavier than I’m used to, but I’ll manage.” Mavera said with a sincere smile that almost turned to a smirk when the Seeker’s eyes dipped to her chest and back to her face, turning with yet another disgusted noise.

“We should have already left if you’re quite done….outfitting yourself.” She called behind her as she walked away from Mavera. “ _She definitely hates the outfit.”_ Mavera picked up the broadsword and sheathed it on her hip, before quickly catching up the Seeker’s gait.

She matches the Seeker’s stride as she tucks a wisp of her black hair behind a pointed ear, and turns to the Seeker, “So do we have a plan for getting up there?”

“We fight our way there.” Her tone is cold, foreboding. Mavera can’t help but smile at the Seeker, under different circumstances they might’ve made decent friends.

 

* * *

 

 

The Seeker apprised Mavera of the tactical situation of the soldiers on their way to the mountaintop. She only spoke of the mission at hand, very professional. They passed several soldiers on the path, getting ever closer to the top. The wind was a bit more biting than Mavera had calculated for in her new-found outfit but she welcomed the crisp air as a sharp contrast to the adrenaline and excitement that had begun to creep into her veins. She listened passively to the Seeker as they walked, not that she spoke much, but her eyes remain affixed on the hole in the sky the entire time. Trying to discern how it could have happened, what went wrong, and most pressingly – _why can’t she remember?_

Blissfully her thoughts are interrupted when a green fireball lands about twenty yards in front of them. A large monster rears its head from the flames and roars, eyes quickly finding Mavera and the Seeker.

“Finally.” Mavera breathed with a smile, unretracting her shield and unsheathing her broadsword. She strides towards the beast, the sword drawn but not at the ready and her shield at her side. The beast roars again at her and charges, Mavera’s smile widens as she matches its speed with her own, slamming her shield into its face with a loud crack and knocking the beast backwards to the ground. Still running, she’s upon it, stabbing downwards with her sword meeting its chest as it cries out and the code swirls around Mavera disappearing into the wind.

“Are you mad?” Mavera turns, a smile still plastered to her face towards the Seeker.

“Am I -”

“Mad? Why would you charge forth so carelessly? You didn’t even bother to take a stance or shield yourself until it may have been too late.” The Seeker’s face is one of disbelief and frustration, and her words are sharp. Mavera simply shrugs in response, sheaths her sword and continues up the path. Another disgusted noise comes from behind her and the heavy footsteps of an angry Seeker follow her. It’s all Mavera can do to keep from chuckling, it’s been too long since she’s fought alongside anyone and she imagines that her movements do look reckless – but that’s part of the fun and thrill of the fight. Silence is all she gets from the Seeker now, continuing up the path until they come to a bridge with a small company of soldiers assigned to its protection.

The Seeker moves to speak with the soldiers as Mavera strolls to the center of the bridge, looking at how much closer the Breach is. “ _What the hell did go so horribly wrong?”_ She plays the images back in her mind again, the arrival of the Divine, several clergy people, the mages, the Templars, the Grey Wardens, some nobility from both the Republic of Ferelden and the Free State of Orlais. No one had come from United Tevinter, but they didn’t usually make their way to the South of Thedas, thinking themselves better or something stupid. There had been no one suspicious, no one of interest and she had looked for such a person. She was sure that someone would make a power grab at the Conclave but it wasn’t apparent. The security had been fairly lax, considering the attendees’ social statuses. She never did like the thought of using ancient ruins for such an important meeting, regardless of their religious significance. Mavera sighs again, rubbing her temples. Whatever should have been there, simply wasn’t and she was giving herself a headache trying to think about it.

She looks back up in time to brace for the green fireball that is heading towards the bridge. The crash of it resounds when it hits the bridge, and the feeling of air under her feet is all Mavera needs to regain her adrenaline rush. She springs the shield out using it to brace herself from the falling concrete and lands on a frozen river below with a crack as the shield hits the ice and she rolls to a crouch scanning the scene. She sees the Seeker is to her right and is fine despite the fact that she has been dumped unceremoniously on her ass. She looks for the monsters and it doesn’t take long to see them. At least three in front of the pair, more are likely obscured from where the remnants of the bridge landed. She smiles again, glancing over to see that the Seeker is up and has her own shield and sword at the ready. The Seeker catches her glance and nods, Mavera takes her cue and stands while unsheathing her sword and together they charge the horde of monsters.

A flash of steel embedded in one monster, the clank of a shield blocking a projectile from another, the swirling of decimated code surround the pair of women as they deftly take down one monster after another. The monsters that were hiding behind the bridge make themselves known and the women are caught between a freshly fired group of monsters and the ones that were there previously. Mavera turns, swapping places with the Seeker who now takes her cue as they stand now back to back. “ _Who would’ve thought we’d actually fight well together?”_ They stand at the ready, breathing heavy after their first assault and awaiting the next. The monsters hesitate, _hesitate,_ before charging forward. Mavera kneels slightly, her shield in front of her and her sword pointed forward next to her side. She waits and then springs forward with a connection knocking down one monster, stabbing through the next, a downward stab of the shield to the first, and turning to engage yet another. She casts a quick glance to her companion who has rammed her way through her own horde twirling brilliantly in the broken code. Mavera finishes the monster in front of her, and engages another. There’s a crack, another fireball has landed with three more. Mavera finishes tearing though her own monsters, and moves towards the Seeker who is still busy with two of her own. The other three closing on her a little too quickly, and Mavera sees from the Seeker’s stance that she doesn’t see them. Mavera stops, dropping her sword and pulls out the revolver, and makes three shots over the shoulder of the Seeker. The Seeker’s face twists for a moment, finishing off the two in a last brilliant flourish before turning in time to see the monsters behind her turn to wisps of code.

Mavera gives her a quick grin before reloading the revolver and gathering her sword from the ground. “That was a little close Seeker. Are _you_ always so reckless?”

“I am _not_ reckless.” The tone was defensive this time, Mavera looked back at her to see the scowl that accompanied.

“That’s not what I just saw.”

The Seeker made an offended noise before stating, “You didn’t have to waste bullets for that.” Mavera shrugs again, heading back up the riverbank to get onto the path. She looks around her when she reaches the top, surveying the damage that the bridge had done. The soldiers on the opposite bank were fine, if not shaken. Her gaze drops down to the rubble where there are bodies strewn in with the concrete. Her heart sinks a bit, “ _I’m responsible for failing the mission.”_ The Seeker lets out a sigh from beside her, breaking the thought. Her eyes met the Seeker’s who had also been looking at the men on the ground, she pulled out her communicator and typed something out before moving up the trail.

“We need to keep moving.” Mavera nodded, though the Seeker wasn’t looking at her any longer and quickly catches up to her stride. The sound of screaming from bits of an ancient ruin in front of them intrudes on the silence and both women break into a run, ascending the precarious stone stairs before them. They get to the top to find soldiers engaged in a heated battle with monsters that keep spewing from a smaller rip in the sky. “ _What the hell is that?”_ The thought is cut as the Seeker bounds from beside her and drops to the floor below them joining the battle with Mavera at her heels.

Another fierce battle ensues, more monsters this time and a seemingly endless supply of them coming from the rip, have both herself and the Seeker busied. Mavera is also consciously inserting herself between the onslaught and the soldiers as much as she can. Her breathing is ragged and heavy when there are but a few left on the field, her smile replaced with open mouthed panting as she readied her shield again for the next one. Suddenly, a hand grabs her shield arm and moves it towards the sky rip before she has a chance to react. Her hand reacts with the sky, crackling to life, and the code from the rip is sucked into her hand.

She pulls her arm away sharply, not understanding what just happened and turns to face a tall bald elf. Her face scrunches, as she looks him over. Bald, no vallaslin, barefoot, ragged clothes, and he holds a staff at his side. She scrutinizes the staff for a moment before speaking.

“What did you do?” Her tone is low, and her eyes are intent on his.

“I theorized that the mark on your hand could close the rifts, seems I was correct.” His voice is as smug as the look on his face. Mavera fumes a bit inside, _“cocky ‘mancer.”_

“And how would you know about the mark?” Her voice comes out threatening, not amused by his smug attitude.

“Well, he was the one who kept you alive after all.” A jovial, husky voice cut in and Mavera’s eyes moved to see a blonde dwarf approach her. He has a wide, welcoming smile and even more surprising - he is clean shaven. He wears brightly colored clothes - a fitted red tunic with khaki pants and a bright blue utility belt – all of it high end, quite expensive she realizes as he moves closer. It’s not clothing, its light-weight knitted Kevlar armor but you wouldn’t be able to that from a distance. He slings an impressively large mechanical crossbow to his back before regarding her appearance.

Mavera is a bit off guard, unsure what to think of the two figures now standing in front of her, and she breathes a sigh of relief when the Seeker approaches to break the silence.

“Solas is a skilled alchemist as well as versed in physiology and Technomancy. He was instrumental in seeing to your care after our soldiers retrieved you from the remnants of the temple.” The Seeker spoke plainly, looking at Mavera as she listened.

Mavera turns back to Solas, looking him over again, “Then I guess you have my thanks.” She says with a bit of a forced smile. _“I owe this smug elf my life, I need to be polite.”_

“Of course.” He offered a smile and then turned to look at the Breach in the sky, “So it seems that the mark can be used to close the small rifts, and likely the Breach as well.” Mavera raised a brow, unsure that she’s hearing correctly.

“It what?” Mavera questions, eyeing the elf’s back now. _“He dresses like he’s homeless, but if he’s so skilled he must be one of those eccentric types.”_

“I was hoping while we were treating you that the mark on your hand was a part of the code that ripped a hole in the sky.” He turned to look at her again, a faint smile, “I guess I wasn’t hoping for nothing.” His stare seemed to bore through her as she took in the information, her face twisting in confusion. _“What the hell is going on? What type of code would rip apart the sky – and what type of Technomancer would try it?”_

“Good to know! Here I thought we’d be ass-deep in monsters forever.” The dwarf piped up quickly, a wry smile to go with his enthusiastic sarcasm, breaking the awkward silence.

“It seems you may hold the key to our salvation…” Solas began, pausing as he waited for her to speak.

“Mavera. My name is Mavera.”

“And if there are to be introductions, I am Varric.” The dwarf interceded with an overly flourished bow before motioning to his back, “And this is Bianca.” Mavera cocked a brow with a wide smile and looked at him as he beamed about his weapon.

“I always like a man who takes care of his expensive toys.” She purred suggestively, but the dwarf only chuckles in response.

“Bianca and I have been through a lot together is all, and she’ll be useful on the rest of the trek to the top.” Varric is now gazing past Mavera to the Seeker, who throws her hands up in response.

“That’s not necessary, we have trained soldiers…”

“Who are having issues not having their ass handed to them, you haven’t been through here in a while Seeker. The situation is more…dire than you believe.”

“Fine.” She stomps away leaving the group looking at her as she moves back to the path up the mountain. Varric laughs at her reaction and falls in step behind her. Solas hesitates, looking Mavera over before slowly following.

“So you’re Dalish?” He asks quietly and almost in a condescending tone, eyeing the red vallaslin that adorns her cheeks.

“Umm…sure.”

“Well that doesn’t sound very convincing.” He smiles but his words are unsure, at least they’re unlike the smug ones he had spoken before.

“Might be because I’m not convinced.” She offers with a grin, “Though I don’t mind the tattoos, goes well with the badass bravado I strive for.”

“I see.” Solas nods when he says it, but his face betrays his confusion. Varric snorts at the response not far in front of them. She can feel his eyes on her back as she picks up her pace.

Mavera simply smiles as they continue up the mountain to the hole. _“This journey keeps becoming curiouser and curiouser.”_ She thinks opportunely to herself, _“Yet another brilliant rabbit hole I’ve found myself in.”_

**Author's Note:**

> I'm hoping my cyber-age depictions of everyone are well received, please let me know if not.


End file.
